Cultural center la Nau will be the place to enjoy the best cinema outdoors. From 15 until 28 of July, el Aula de Cinema de la Universitat de València, presents “Nits de Cinema” (“Nights at the Cinema”) with two cinematographic cycles which aim to promote films in the original version among the residents and to offer an interesting leisure activity. Also, “Cinema in Valencia” will take place in Velluters between 7 and 28 of July; in Benimaclet between 3 and 10 of July; and in Oninyent, 21 of July.
“Nits de Cinema” is a part of “Estiu de cinema” (“Summer at the Cinema”), an event organised by Generalitat, Diputación and Universitat de València which offers open-air cinema continuously from 8 of July until 27 of August.
“Cinema in Valencia” is gaining popularity in the capital. This Sunday, July 3, “Open air cinema” begins in the square of Benimaclet with the screening of “Pride”, a fresh and emotional film by Martthew Warchus, an adaptation of a play by Sam Shepard, which reminds one of films like “Full Monty” and directors like Ken Loach or Stephen Frears. The programme will continue Sunday, 10th of June, with “The Kids Are All Right” by Lisa Cholodenko. A film which, according to the critic Carlos Boyero, is “Fun and quite unusual”.
What´s more, there will be contemporary cinema in the open air in the Pilar square, in the middle of Velluters neighborhood, every Thursday of July. The programme will start in Velluters this coming Thursday (07.07) with “Pride”, in this case it will be original version in English with subtitles in Valencian. It will continue throughout the month of June with “Mustang” by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, “A Perfect Day”, on 14 and 21 of June respectively, and it will close with the screening of “Sufragette” by Sarah Gavron, on Thursday 28 of June.
With regard to “Open air cinema” in Ontinyent, there will be a screening on the 21 of June of “Inside Out” an animation film by Pixar, for all audiences.
More information can be found on the website of Servei de Política Lingüística and on the website ‘Cinema en valencià’.
The cycle “Voluntad de hierro” (“Iron Will”)
Kurt Vonnegut used to say, while advising whoever wanted to write a good story, that the main premise has to include two characters with an objective, a motivation, something that pushes the plot forward. This seemingly simple and accessible beggining can turn into the main “leitmotiv” of the story when two characters turn their objectives into obsessions and are ready to achieve them at any cost.
The cycle “Iron Will”, programmed by Aula de Cinema of UV, aims to present various films in which the main characters are guided by passion, determination and an unyielding necessity to reach their goals, even at the expense of jeoperdizing their mental health or even their lives. This process begins when the face of Maria Falconetti is turned into an icon of what cinema can easily attain through framing and editing. “The passion of Joan of Arc” is one of the masterpieces by Carl T. Dreyer, and its protagonist is a clear example of steadfastness in faith, in the light of barbarity and ignorance. The iron will also stands out in captain Ahab, obsessed by the hunt of the monster “Moby Dick”, the whale that is a metaphor for the unknown and the untamed, and which gave immortality to Herman Melville and his magnificent novel.
In “A bride dressed in black” Julie Kohler has a plan. A plan for her to finish, one by one, with all of those connected with a dark event that took place eight years ago. In this film, François Truffaut, shows his hitchcockian aspect and creates a bloody story to the glory of Jeanne Moreau. One of the great directors of all time, Martin Scorsese, will make use once more of Robert de Niro, employing him as a vessel to express frustration and the other face of “glamolur” of show-business. In “The Kind of Comedy”, De Niro looks in the mirror of Jerry Lewis, but although the stage is full of laughter, when one steps off, what is left is emptiness and madness.
This overview ends with films produced in recent years. For example, “Nightcrawler” denounces glorification of the morbid, of whatever one avoids looking at, but which later one inevitably desires to consume. The way of taking the sensationalist press to the extreme by Jake Gyllenhaal is mind-blowing and it is the dark side that society doesn´t want to see. On the other hand, “Man on Wire” shows the viewer, from a documentary-like perspective, the hypnotizing figure of Philippe Petit, whose great obsession was to conquer the Manhattan sky walking on a wire that is few centimetres thin.
Cycle “Extrañas parejas” (“Strange Couples”)
It´s a cliché to say that opposites attract. But beyond this platitude, it just may be true that the contrast of characters can be the point of interest when it comes to relationships. And if we venture even further beyond that, this link can include not only very different individuals, but also animals and even inanimate objects.
The cycle “Extrañas parejas” (“Strange couples”) is meant to be a varied sample of unexpected relations. Many different kinds of characters who differ in race, age, social status or even constraints which would make their relationship impossible. But everybody has something in common: drawing conclusions related to how interpersonal mechanisms in society are understood on the basis of their relationships and its results.
The legend ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is based on the European tradition of oral storytelling, whose origins are almost impossible to track. There are countless versions and adaptations, but perhaps, the most lyrical one might be the one directed by the poet, novelist, painter and also director Jean Cocteau in 1946. In this version, the story of the noble whose curse has turned him into a horrible creature who, nevertheless, hides the most beautiful emotions towards his beloved. ‘King Kong’ follows the same plot, in which the unlikely relationship between a young actress and a huge ape is also a metaphor for intolerance, ignorance and fear of what is different.
Another couple, less strange but also universal is the one formed by Quixote and Sancho Panza. The immortal work by Miguel de Cervantes has seen many attempts to be made into a film, but few knew how to convey the depth of this classic of literature. A particular version of ‘Don Quixote’ was made in the former Soviet Union in the 50’s, in which the inevitable reference to the class struggle is added to the traditional quixotic story.
If Cervantes was the main Spanish writer in the Spanish Golden Age, Luis García Berlanga might be the most important director from Spain in the 20th century. His films are among the best in the history of Spanish film, and many of them would not be so without the contribution of the scriptwriter Rafael Azcona.
“Harold and Maude” is a peculiar couple separated by age, just like in the case of “Mary and Max”. It is a touching story about pen-pals: an Australian schoolgirl and an older Newyorker with adjustment problems. Finally, the last strange couple formed by a hit man (Jean Reno) and a little girl (Natalie Portman) who is looking for revenge. In “León: The Professional”, a 90´s classic by the controversial Luc Besson, the two characters begin to understand each other (and discover that they have more in common than they had imagined).
The cycle “Strange couples” will continue in Filmoteca de Verano, where one can also see the best rated films of the last year.
Last update: 2 de july de 2016 07:00.
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